According to AP London office that the cell-phone giant is interested in buying T-Mobile UK, the British unit of Deutsche Telekom. Britain's cell-phone market is the most competitive in Europe with five major operators. Vodafone, currently second behind O2, would leap into pole position if it acquired T-Mobile.

According to the report, "Telecom analysts said a Vodafone deal for T-Mobile would make sense because the cut-throat competition among five companies has made profits for any of them particularly hard to come by in Britain. The market includes France Telecom's Orange with 22 percent of customers and Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa with just 3 percent.

The Financial Times said Deutsche Telekom has already appointed JPMorgan to explore potential suitors for offloading T-Mobile, which has struggled for years to perform as strongly as its German parent."